But strange as the journey may be, it's nowhere near as strange as what they will find waiting at its end. Neither Poe nor Verne had actually visited the remote Kerguelen Islands, located in the south Indian Ocean, but their works are some of the few literary (as opposed to exploratory) references to the archipelago. The Captain must convince the crew of the Halbrane to take a long and dangerous trip to Antarctic in hope of finding his brother and any other survivors of the Jane.
An Antarctic Mystery (also known as The Sphinx of the Ice Fields) by Jules Verne, published in 1897, is an adventure novel that serves as a sequel to Edgar Allan Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. The story follows the journey of the narrator, a wealthy American named Jeorling, who becomes fascinated by the mysteries of the Antarctic after reading Pym's narrative.
When Jeorling boards the schooner Halbrane, commanded by Captain Len Guy, he learns of the captain's obsession with rescuing Pym’s crew members, who may have survived an earlier expedition. The novel describes their perilous voyage into the icy, uncharted regions of the Antarctic in search of answers, encountering extreme weather, dangerous ice formations, and the enigmatic forces that lie at the heart of Poe's tale.
Verne's novel blends elements of scientific exploration and suspense, using meticulous detail to depict the harsh Antarctic environment. It builds on Poe’s mystery, adding Verne’s characteristic scientific curiosity and sense of adventure.
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Categories: Fiction Thriller / Mystery Historical